Colo. Rev. Stat. » Title 26
Colorado Revised Statutes

Colo. Rev. Stat. § 26-1-121 (2026)

Appropriations - food distribution programs

✓ current as of July 2026
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(1) (a) For carrying out the duties and obligations of the state department and county departments pursuant to this title 26 and for matching federal funds or meeting maintenance of effort requirements as may be available for public assistance and welfare activities in the state, including but not limited to assistance payments, food stamps (except the value of food stamp coupons), social services, child welfare services, rehabilitation, programs for the aging and for veterans, and related activities, the general assembly, pursuant to the constitution and laws of the state of Colorado, shall make adequate appropriations for the payment of the costs, pursuant to the budget prepared by the executive director.

(b) Subject to the provisions of section 26-1-109 (2), if the federal law shall provide federal funds, in cash or in another form such as food stamps, for public assistance and welfare activities, including but not limited to assistance payments, food stamps, social services, and child welfare services, not otherwise provided for in this title, the state department is authorized to make such payments or offer such services in accordance with the requirements accompanying said federal funds within the limits of available state appropriations.

(c) When the executive director determines that adequate appropriations for the payment of the costs described in paragraph (a) of this subsection (1) have not been made and that an overexpenditure of an appropriation will occur based upon the state department's estimates, the state board may take actions consistent with state and federal law to bring the rate of expenditure into line with available funds. The general assembly declares that case load and utilization based on medical necessity are legitimate reasons for supplemental funding.

(2) (a) The general assembly shall appropriate from the general fund for the costs of administering assistance payments, food stamps, social services, and other public assistance and welfare functions of the state department and the state's share of the costs of administering those functions by the county departments amounts sufficient for the proper and efficient performance of the duties imposed upon them by law, including a legal advisor appointed by the attorney general. The general assembly shall make two separate appropriations, one for the administrative costs of the state department and another for the administrative costs of the county departments. Any applicable matching federal funds must be apportioned in accordance with the federal regulations accompanying the funds. Any unobligated and unexpended balances of state funds so appropriated remaining at the end of each fiscal year must be credited to the state general fund.

(b) Beginning with fiscal year 2025-26, before making the appropriation described in subsection (2)(a) of this section, the general assembly shall consider, but is not required to appropriate amounts included in, the results of the public assistance programs funding model described in section 26-1-121.5.

(3) The expenses of training personnel for special skills relating to public assistance and welfare activities, including, but not limited to, assistance payments, food stamps, social services, child welfare services, rehabilitation, and programs for the aging, as the expenses are determined and approved by the state department, may be paid from whatever state and federal funds are available for training purposes.

(4) (a) The state department is authorized to charge an administrative fee for commodities delivered to agencies that receive these commodities through food distribution programs authorized by the United States department of agriculture pursuant to 7 CFR 250.1 et seq., as amended, including the "National School Lunch Program", the "Child and Adult Care Food Program", and the "Summer Food Service Program". The department shall collect the administrative fee authorized pursuant to this subsection (4) at least once every calendar year, or when an agency's account reaches a balance of one hundred dollars or more, from agencies that receive commodities from such programs.

(b) All administrative fees collected from agencies pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subsection (4) shall be transmitted to the state treasurer, who shall credit the same to the food distribution program service fund, which fund is hereby created and referred to in this paragraph

(b) as the "fund". The moneys in the fund shall be continuously appropriated to the state department to defray the cost of administering the food distribution programs specified in paragraph (a) of this subsection (4). Any moneys in the fund not expended for the purpose of administering the food distribution programs specified in paragraph (a) of this subsection (4) may be invested by the state as provided in section 24-36-113, C.R.S. All interest derived from the deposit and investment of moneys in the fund shall be credited to the fund. The fund balances shall comply with any applicable federal laws or regulations. At the end of each fiscal year, any unexpended and unencumbered moneys in the fund shall remain in the fund and shall not be credited or transferred to the general fund or any other fund.

Source: L. 73: R&RE, p. 1173, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 119-1-20. L. 79: Entire section amended, p. 1083, § 7, effective July 1. L. 84: (1)(c) added, p. 792, § 1, effective May 11. L. 93: (1)(a), (1)(b), and (3) amended, p. 1145, § 84, effective July 1, 1994. L. 97: (1)(a) amended, p. 1221, § 7, effective July 1. L. 2005: (4) added, p. 743, § 1, effective June 1. L. 2006: (1)(a), (1)(b), and (3) amended, p. 1991, § 17, effective July 1. L. 2020: (1)(a), (2), and (3) amended, (HB 20-1422), ch. 116, p. 487, § 3, effective June 22. L. 2022: (2) amended, (SB 22-235), ch. 409, p. 2894, § 2, effective June 7; (4)(a) amended, (HB 22-1334), ch. 130, p. 896, § 1, effective August 10. L. 2024: (1)(a), (2)(a), and (3) amended, (HB 24-1407), ch. 81, p. 274, § 2, effective July 1.

Cross references: For the legislative declaration contained in the 1993 act amending this section, see section 1 of chapter 230, Session Laws of Colorado 1993. For the legislative declaration in HB 20-1422, see section 1 of chapter 116, Session Laws of Colorado 2020.

26-1-121.5. Public assistance funding model - workload study - evaluation - report - definitions - repeal. (1) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:

(a) "Funding model" means the county administration of public and medical assistance programs funding model to determine the appropriate level of funding for each county required to make eligibility determinations regarding participation in a public assistance program.

(b) "Medical assistance programs" means the following public assistance programs administered by the department of health care policy and financing: The medical assistance program, established in articles 4, 5, and 6 of title 25.5, including long-term care services; the children's basic health plan, established in article 8 of title 25.5; and the old age pension health and medical care program described in section 25.5-2-101.

(c) "Public assistance programs" means the programs of public assistance administered by the state department pursuant to article 2 of this title 26.

(2) Repealed.

(3) (a) On or before January 2, 2024, the state department shall enter into an agreement with an outside entity to develop a county administration of public and medical assistance programs funding model to determine the amount of money necessary to fund the administration of public and medical assistance programs in each county. The outside entity may be the same entity as the third party that performs the comprehensive assessment described in subsection (2) of this section.

(b) The outside entity shall work with the state department, the department of health care policy and financing, and county departments to determine the appropriate process and data to be used in the development of the funding model.

(c) On or before July 1, 2024, the outside entity shall develop the funding model for fiscal year 2025-26.

(d) On or before November 1, 2024, the state department shall submit the results of the funding model to the joint budget committee, the department of health care policy and financing, and the county departments.

(e) This subsection (3) is repealed, effective June 30, 2026.

(4) (a) On or before July 1, 2025, and on or before July 1 every third year thereafter, the state department shall enter into an agreement with an outside entity to annually update and modify the funding model. The outside entity may be the same entity that developed prior versions of the funding model. The outside entity shall develop each update in consultation with the state department, the department of health care policy and financing, and the county departments.

(b) On or before November 1, 2025, and on or before November 1 of each year thereafter, the state department shall submit the results of the funding model to the joint budget committee, the department of health care policy and financing, and the county departments.

(5) The funding model must include:

(a) The number of eligibility staff, lead workers, supervisors and managers, customer service staff, quality assurance staff, program integrity staff, investigators, claims establishment and collections staff, appeals staff, attorneys, and additional support staff necessary for a county to perform all responsibilities required by state and federal law, and must include a component that considers the various resources, including financial resources, required to effectively hire, train, and retain staff in their respective areas of responsibility associated with public and medical assistance programs;

(b) Demographic data, including poverty statistics, and state and local economic drivers, including staff compensation, at both the county and regional levels, that may influence the overall cost of delivering public and medical assistance programs in each county;

(c) The estimated administrative workload for each county to make public assistance program eligibility determinations, to be funded by the money allocated to counties pursuant to section 26-1-122;

(d) A component that supports business process improvements as described in section 26-1-122.3 (1)(b)(IX) in each county; and

(e) Any modifications to the public and medical assistance program system that have been implemented by the department or the department of health care policy and financing, including those that may have been recommended by the third party pursuant to subsection (2)(b) of this section and provided to the joint budget committee pursuant to subsection (2)(c) of this section.

(6) (a) The joint budget committee shall use the results of the funding model to inform its decisions regarding the amount of the appropriation to the state department for county administration of public assistance programs and the amount of the appropriation to the department of health care policy and financing for county administration of medical assistance programs.

(b) The state department shall allocate money to counties for public assistance programs in accordance with the results of the funding model. The department of health care policy and financing shall allocate money to counties as permitted by state and federal law for medical assistance programs informed by the results of the funding model. If the appropriation made for a fiscal year to either department is not equal to the amount necessary to fully fund the allocations required by the funding model, the affected department shall adjust the allocation to each county to ensure that the funding made available to all counties does not exceed the annual appropriation.

(7) (a) On or before November 15, 2026, and on or before November 15 of each year thereafter, the state department and the department of health care policy and financing shall submit a joint report regarding the funding model to the joint budget committee. The report must include the following information concerning the previous fiscal year:

(I) The results of the funding model, including the cost per county necessary to meet all state and federal requirements for the comprehensive delivery of public assistance benefits and medical assistance benefits;

(II) The total amount appropriated for public assistance programs to the state department and for medical assistance programs to the department of health care policy and financing, and the difference between each county's actual allocation and the allocation amount identified by the funding model;

(III) The final close-out for the previous fiscal year;

(IV) Any modifications made to the model to improve the accuracy of the data;

(V) A description of any assessment performed of county business processes and workflow and a description of modifications made by a county that have improved or are intended to improve workflow and the timelines of eligibility determinations, client satisfaction, and workforce retention; and

(VI) Any other issues related to funding the delivery of public and medical assistance benefits.

(b) Notwithstanding section 24-1-136 (11)(a)(I), the reporting requirement described in this subsection (7) continues indefinitely.

Source: L. 2022: Entire section added, (SB 22-235), ch. 409, p. 2890, § 1, effective June 7.

Editor's note: Subsection (2)(e) provided for the repeal of subsection (2), effective June 30, 2024. (See L. 2022, p. 2890.)

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 5 cases, 1976–1998 · leading case: Romer v. Bd. of Cnty. Commissioners, 956 P.2d 566 (Colo. 1998).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Romer v. Bd. of Cnty. Commissioners, 956 P.2d 566 (Colo. 1998). · cites it 11× “Subsection 5 provides, in part: If state and county appropriations are insufficient to meet the administrative and program costs of public assistance and the administrative costs of medical assistance and food stamps, then the executive director of the department of social…”
Colo. Dept. of Soc. Serv. v. BD. OF CTY. COM'RS, 697 P.2d 1 (Colo. 1985). · cites it 2× “§ 26-1-121(1)(a), 11 C.R.S. (1982). In the event the initial appropriation fails to meet the costs of public assistance programs, the General Assembly may supplement appropriations to redress the imbalance.”
Colorado Dep't of Soc. Servs. v. Bd. of Cnty. Commissioners, 697 P.2d 1 (Colo. 1985). · cites it 2× “§ 26-1-121(2). Upon approval of its annual budget, usually near the July 1 date upon which the state fiscal year begins, the Department sends a “County Budget Letter” to each board of county commissioners.”
Evert v. Ouren, 549 P.2d 791 (Colo. Ct. App. 1976). “See §§ 26-1-121(1)(a) and 26-1-122(3)(c), C.R.”
Bd. of Cnty. Commissioners v. Romer, 931 P.2d 504 (Colo. Ct. App. 1996). “58, § 26-1-126(5) at 290 and §§ 26-1-121(l)(c) and 26-1-122(5), C.R.S.”
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 26-1-121(1): 1 case
Romer v. Bd. of Cnty. Commissioners, 956 P.2d 566 (Colo. 1998). “Subsection 5 provides, in part: If state and county appropriations are insufficient to meet the administrative and program costs of public assistance and the administrative costs of medical assistance and food stamps, then the executive director of the department of social…”
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 26-1-121(1)(a): 3 cases
Romer v. Bd. of Cnty. Commissioners, 956 P.2d 566 (Colo. 1998). “Subsection 5 provides, in part: If state and county appropriations are insufficient to meet the administrative and program costs of public assistance and the administrative costs of medical assistance and food stamps, then the executive director of the department of social…”
Colo. Dept. of Soc. Serv. v. BD. OF CTY. COM'RS, 697 P.2d 1 (Colo. 1985). “§ 26-1-121(1)(a), 11 C.R.S. (1982). In the event the initial appropriation fails to meet the costs of public assistance programs, the General Assembly may supplement appropriations to redress the imbalance.”
Evert v. Ouren, 549 P.2d 791 (Colo. Ct. App. 1976). “See §§ 26-1-121(1)(a) and 26-1-122(3)(c), C.R.”
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 26-1-121(1)(c): 1 case
Romer v. Bd. of Cnty. Commissioners, 956 P.2d 566 (Colo. 1998). “Subsection 5 provides, in part: If state and county appropriations are insufficient to meet the administrative and program costs of public assistance and the administrative costs of medical assistance and food stamps, then the executive director of the department of social…”
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 26-1-121(1)(e): 1 case
Romer v. Bd. of Cnty. Commissioners, 956 P.2d 566 (Colo. 1998). “Subsection 5 provides, in part: If state and county appropriations are insufficient to meet the administrative and program costs of public assistance and the administrative costs of medical assistance and food stamps, then the executive director of the department of social…”
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 26-1-121(2): 2 cases
Colo. Dept. of Soc. Serv. v. BD. OF CTY. COM'RS, 697 P.2d 1 (Colo. 1985). “§ 26-1-121(1)(a), 11 C.R.S. (1982). In the event the initial appropriation fails to meet the costs of public assistance programs, the General Assembly may supplement appropriations to redress the imbalance.”
Colorado Dep't of Soc. Servs. v. Bd. of Cnty. Commissioners, 697 P.2d 1 (Colo. 1985). “§ 26-1-121(2). Upon approval of its annual budget, usually near the July 1 date upon which the state fiscal year begins, the Department sends a “County Budget Letter” to each board of county commissioners.”
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 26-1-121(l)(a): 1 case
Colorado Dep't of Soc. Servs. v. Bd. of Cnty. Commissioners, 697 P.2d 1 (Colo. 1985). “§ 26-1-121(2). Upon approval of its annual budget, usually near the July 1 date upon which the state fiscal year begins, the Department sends a “County Budget Letter” to each board of county commissioners.”
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 26-1-121(l)(c): 1 case
Bd. of Cnty. Commissioners v. Romer, 931 P.2d 504 (Colo. Ct. App. 1996). “58, § 26-1-126(5) at 290 and §§ 26-1-121(l)(c) and 26-1-122(5), C.R.S.”
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